Rural Population
Disclaimer: This represents my current understanding of the mod mechanics, and will likely change upon seeing the actual scripts and events. Each 1 rural pop represents 10,000 inhabitants of the province living in the countryside producing Food or Rural Production. They make up the vast majority of people in the world and for most places during most periods existed barely above subsistence. They are the foundation of society, but are far less productive and useful to the crown than urban dwellers. Food Food Production A unit of food represents enough production/import to feed 10,000 people or 1 Pop and every Rural, Urban and Elite Pop requires one unit of food or they begin to starve. Rural Pops produce food at a base rate of 1:1 modified chiefly by farming efficiency (FE). The farming efficiency of a region is increased through wealth investment that represents procurement of better tools at an early level all the way to large scale irrigation and advanced techniques. The Scottish Highlands will have a much lower base FE than the Nile River Valley, so every 1 Scottish Rural Pop will produce less excess food than their Nile counterparts. Consumption and Distribution Food is first consumed by Rural Pops with the excess then going to feed urban centers. In game this is modeled by pooling the food production of all provinces in a 'sub-continent' (like France, The Balkans or India) and subtracting out the food consumed by Rural Pops. Then the remainder is left for Urban Pops located in the sub-continent's cities. It is allocated based on Urban Gravity, or how strongly the city pulls food compared to its competitors. Because the Scottish Rural Pops may only produce 1.05 units of food compared to 1.2 in the Nile (ex. values), 200,000 Scottish farmers (20 pops) could only support 10,000 city dwellers (1 pop) while 200,000 Nile farmers support 40,000. The excess food in the Nile will be split between major cities such as Cairo, with its correct CoP, CoT and Capital modifiers giving it an Urban Gravity of [ ### ] and Alexandria [ Same ] Export and Continental Market Lastly, through Rural Production, Nobles can set a portion of the food produced in a province to be exported to the Continental Market for use by only the truly grand Metropoli. Food serves as the driving source of population growth, migration and nearly every other system and therefore interacts heavily with Disasters (famines, plague, etc.). Provincial Carrying Capacity (Ideal Rural Population) The Ideal Rural Population (IRP) is the underlying potential that each province has for population growth. The further the rural population is below this number, the faster the population grows, and conversely, the farther above, the slower it grows. Theory Optimal Foraging Theory applies to both animal and human behavior, and both tend to prioritize the pursuit of food or resources in such a way to maximize efficiency. In any given province, there is going to be varying degrees of fertility in the farmlands and it stands to reason that the more people you pack into the province, the more you begin to rely on less fertile and less ideal farmland. This results in less efficient food production and slower growth in that province for each additional person that lives there. Gameplay The effect of Ideal Rural Population is that after a plague, famine or looting ravages a province, killing or displacing its Rural Pops, the underlying potential is still similar and the population will begin to rebound. After a generation or two of peace and calm, the population will return to roughly its IRP. Changing Ideal Rural Population While far less variable than the actual Rural Population at any given time, the Ideal Rural Population will dynamically respond to longer term events. Perhaps the greatest driver of IRP growth over time is steady improvement of Farming Efficiency Innate Fertility While IRP will dynamically change in response to a variety of factors, Innate Fertility (IF) represents the unchangeable conditions of a province. A province's Innate Fertility is largely determined by climate and terrain. If you have a 10 Innate Fertility province but it currently has 5 Ideal Population, the Innate Fertility of the province will act to push up your Ideal Population Growth faster than normal until it is back at equilibrium. Conversely, if that province has 10 Innate Fertility and 20 Ideal Population, Ideal Population will increase much, much more slowly. This makes regions enjoying a "population golden age," like the Medieval Andalusia and Sicily, relatively vulnerable should they be wracked by discord, while also allowing regions that have been ruined by war capable of eventually pulling themselves back up. Growth Model So how is population growth calculated? Universal Growth Factor 1.01 --''LATER--'' Provincial Fatigue (or whatever it's called) --''LATER--'' __FORCETOC__